The clown show that is the truck market shows no sign of returning to normalcy. We are now at the point where a new diesel-powered truck costs what a starter home did a decade ago. To paraphrase the line in War Games, the only winning move is not to play. So, what is your next move if you need a heavy-duty truck with pulling power? Perhaps this 1996 Ford F-250 XLT 4×4 for sale on eBay in Ormond Beach, Florida should be your next purchase. With a Buy It Now price of $32,500 and a starting bid of $15,000, why are there currently no bids on this 104,500-mile truck? Is that price too high for this garage-kept beauty, or is this a sign that the used truck market is softening after years of insanity?
The story of this very red F-250 is an unusual one. The seller has owned this truck for 9 years and purchased it from the original owner. The truck had just 72,000 on the odometer when that transaction was made. Since then, it has served as a second truck and lived a pampered life in a garage. Safe from the unrelenting Florida sun, this truck is described as having showroom-quality paint, and the whole package is described as being in “immaculate” condition.
The pictures are a testament to the wonderful shape this truck is in. 1996 was 28 long years ago. To put that in perspective, Bill Clinton won re-election, DVDs hit the market for the first time in Japan, and the Dow closed above 6,000 for the first time. Time flies when you are having fun, I guess. Regardless, over the years this truck has been fitted with a few aftermarket accessories. Most notable are the Highway Products headache rack across the back glass and a diamond plate aluminum toolbox. We are also told that the truck has recently been treated to new BF Goodrich raised white letter tires all around.
Pictures of the interior show a truck that was optioned out with power windows, power locks, cruise control, tilt steering, air conditioning, an automatic transmission, an AM/FM stereo with a CD player, and power seats. We can also see that an aftermarket gauge set has been added to the windshield pillar and the seats have been treated to a set of cloth covers. We are assured that the factory seats are like brand new underneath.
Under the hood is Ford’s famous 7.3-liter Power Stroke diesel engine. Legendary for their reliability, especially compared to later Ford truck diesel engines, this engine was rated at 215 horsepower and 450 lb.-ft of torque at 2,000 RPMs in 1996. Given that this truck has just slipped over the 100,000-mile mark, a new owner can expect to see a lot more miles if maintenance is performed correctly.
In all, this seems to be a very nice truck. The $32,500 Buy It Now price may be a bit of a reach, but the $15,000 asked for the opening bid seems reasonable for such a nice truck. We have seen lesser trucks sell for more on these pages. Perhaps the production bottlenecks are becoming less of an issue, or the economy is slowing down. Who knows? Trying to figure out the truck market has become an exercise best left to fortune tellers and mystics. Hopefully, clarity will prevail soon.
Why do you think this truck has attracted exactly zero bids at the $15,000 opening price? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments.
Absolutely a gorgeous colour, ditch the add ons in the tray, and she’ll be perfect.
Beautiful truck, but no way they’re getting that price unless it were a crew cab. I don’t know anyone that desires the extra cab. I’ve had five of these 7.3’s over the years and currently still have a 2002 f550 and a 2003 F350. Both our daily drivers and are pushing 300,000 miles each.
But I use these trucks for work and to feed my family…. so a garage kept powerstroke? I don’t really get it. Trucks are for working. This thing is way too nice to put to work especially at that price.
Id never want a crew cab, I’d use it to pull my 16ft. fishing boat. Ive always owned extended cabs. I’d ditch the boy racer gages on the A pillar though.
Those gauges are a must if it’s chipped and used as a puller. Gotta keep an eye on the exhaust gas temps and other vitals so you don’t cook your internals. I suppose you could go the electronic display route if you don’t like the A-pillar look but you’ve got to have something. Beautiful truck!
Agree with you….way too nice to work, and that’s what trucks are for. Not real sure what the purpose in buying this truck at that price would be.
I do, however, have to disagree with you on the crew cab vs extra cab. We have one of each F250 and, like you, work them hard, mostly pulling horse trailers. Main thing I like is the 8 ft bed in the extra cab, much more useful than the 6 1/2 in the crewcab. I guess to each his own. Great trucks either way.
Ours have always been the long bed crew cabs.
Listing has ended.. This is a sweet truck to own. I would use it to pull a trailer with a muscle car on it. It’s to nice to get dirty. A fair price would be $29,000.. good luck to the seller.. 🐻🇺🇸
i have the identical truck except i live in NH.
such a beautiful truck except not a fan of the add ons and i think it takes away from value referring to A pillar guages in particular.
would prefer closer to true original. nice truck though
I’m seeing a resurgence of standard cab trucks here in SW Va. Not sure why other than availability maybe? Several of my friends agree there are more new standard cabs out there than there was a couple years ago. If I was in the market for another 7.3L, I would be watching this but I’m not paying their price for an Extended cab.
Beautiful truck, but what to do with it if you bought it? If someone needs a work truck there are plenty of this era around for 33 to 40% of the bin…yes, more miles, more beat up, but good bones and with minimal work can do the job for a long time.
Otherwise, what do you do with it? There are also plenty of beautiful ego trucks out there, never worked hard or even driven off the concrete, with their coca cola cowboy (or cowgirl) owners trying to look cool. If that’s your deal, this is the truck for you. As I said, beautiful truck. Guess a person needs to decide why they are buying a truck in the first place.
Ok, even at the crazy $32k BIN price? This is better than any new F250 Ext Cab, 4×4, 6.7 diesel, with about TWICE the power and speeds, but at least $40k more! With the trouble waiting to happen over complicated EGR/exhaust/Fluid issues.
Unless you have the 32K on hand in cash to purchase this truck, you might as well forget about it. Your banker is going to have a good laugh when you try to finance this one unless you have a bunch of other collateral you would be willing to put up for it.
Plenty of companies out there who specialize in financing vintage vehicles
I love the simplicity and durability of these 7.3 Ford trucks owned 3 of them and would use this to pull my 5th wheel. maybe at a little slower speeds than my newer ones but without the hassle of DEF and get way better mileage.
If a person is looking for a work truck, the newer diesel pickups have double the HP and torque of this PU. Other than that I don’t have a bad thing to say about this PU, it’s beautiful!
That truck may have cost that much brand new. I know for a fact I could have got it for less from the dealer tho. I do love the body style and they tend to fist less than the 1999 n newer styles ! My 96 (crew cab) F350 rolled off the line at 34,000$ I got it otd for 40,000.
At the price of new diesels or any new truck 32k is a deal but sorry to say 15-20k would be much more in line. I bought my Wyoming 99 F250 SD for 12k with little more miles on it.
Worth every penny of $20k. $32.5k? I’m thinking not. But many are correct that it would be nicer w/o all of the fru-fru add ons. How much can one get for a second hand headache rack?
I remember back in the 90’s when pickup trucks broke the $40k barrier and thinking “JHC! Over forty grand for a pickup truck? No way!” And now you can spend over $100k easily on a new pickup. This is a really nice truck, but the ask is pretty high for what it is. I think $20-25k is more realistic. If it was a 5 speed manual it would sell for more, but not for over $30k. Just my opinion.
7.3 is a rock solid , proven engine. Clean truck, low miles for the year. Auto trans is better, than the problems with the dual mass flywheel, manual setup. Price is fair, go ahead and spend 100K + on new EPA junk , that will be at the dealer more than on the road.
Truck is gorgeous, think Ford the paint cranberry, gotta be worth 25G
Also I worked for years on an excavation company crew, I was the trailer/ dump truck all around guy. We had a F350, very similar, but with a 460 FI V8, with automatic 4×4, we used as an all around truck in the fleet. It had a 200 gal diesel tank in the 8’ bed, plus a huge plow rig. We beat the crap out of that truck towing skid steers, plus plowing all night at times, burning through 50-60 gallons of gas, the 7.3 diesel just like it used about 35! But was an absolute DOG! Compared with that 460!
Probably the 6.9 , non turbo version or the dealership got ahold of it and detuned it from factory